This invention relates to a supporting structure for a pedal assembly for use with an automobile.
In automobile collisions (head-on collisions), as is often the case, an automobile cannot fully be stopped even though the driver brakes the automobile by stepping on a brake pedal for the purpose of avoidance of a collision, resulting in the collision, namely, the automobile leads to the collision with the brake pedal trod.
In such a case, a front car body goes to collapse while absorbing energy of the collision, and an engine placed in an engine room goes backward while pushing a master cylinder of a brake system located to the rear of the engine. During the time, since a brake pedal lever located to the rear of a dash panel is connected to the master cylinder through an operating rod, the brake pedal is also pushed backward through the operating rod with the backward movement of the master cylinder. As a result, a load of automobile collision acts on the driver""s foot with which the driver has stepped on the brake pedal until immediately before the collision to produce a large kick back, thereby applying an impact to the driver""s knee.
To cope with this problem, various countermeasures have been conventionally proposed. For example, in a structure disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-216528, a rocking link is supported to a pedal bracket fixed to a dash panel through a fixed pin extending widthwise of an automobile for rocking motion around the fixed pin, and a brake pedal lever is connected and supported to the rocking link through a rotating pin extending therefrom widthwise of the automobile. And, a spring is bridged between the rocking link and an instrument panel member as a car body member located in a cabin so as to pass above the fixed pin and urge the rocking link into backward rocking motion. Furthermore, an abutment is provided for abutting against the rocking link having moved backward together with the pedal bracket by a collision. When the pedal bracket moves backward by the collision, the rocking link as a support member for the brake pedal lever abuts against the abutment of the instrument panel member and then drops out of the abutment while rocking frontward. In this manner, a brake pedal at the lower end of the brake pedal lever is held against backward movement, thereby preventing a load of automobile collision from being applied to the driver""s knee through the brake pedal.
In the conventional structure mentioned above, however, it is necessary to additionally provide the abutment which can abut against the rocking link. Further, the spring for urging the rocking link into rocking motion must be disposed. These additional members involve complicated structure and high price.
Furthermore, it is difficult for the rocking link to precisely abut against the abutment and drop out of the abutment while rocking frontward in an automobile collision. Therefore, the conventional structure has poor operational reliability.
An object of the present invention is to improve the supporting structure for a pedal assembly such as a brake pedal assembly disposed to the rear of a dash panel, and more specifically to reinforce and simplify the pedal assembly supporting structure for use with an automobile while preventing the pedal as far as possible from moving backward in an automobile collision to provide enhanced operational reliability.
To attain the above object, in the present invention, a first bracket pivotally mounting a pedal lever is disengageably connected to a second bracket fixed to a car body member in a cabin so that when a load of automobile collision above a predetermined level is applied to the first bracket in an automobile collision, the first bracket is disconnected from the second bracket to come into a cantilevered condition and the pedal lever supported to the first bracket is caused to abut against a pedal lever stop provided on the second bracket. This prevents the pedal lever itself from moving backward.
More specifically, the present invention is directed to a supporting structure for a pedal assembly disposed to the rear of a dash panel of an automobile. This structure includes a first bracket fixed to the dash panel, a second bracket fixed to a car body member in a cabin and connected at a front end thereof to a rear portion of the first bracket so as to be disengageable by a load of automobile collision above a predetermined level, and the pedal assembly pivotally mounted for rocking motion to the first bracket. Further, the second bracket is provided with a pedal lever stop for abutting against the pedal assembly moving backward by an automobile collision to restrain further backward movement of the pedal assembly.
With the above structure, the first bracket pivotally mounting the pedal assembly is supported to the dash panel and connected at its rear end to the second bracket, and the second bracket is fixed to the car body member in the cabin. Therefore, in a normal condition, the first and second brackets are held in unitary relation with each other and the pedal assembly is supported to the first bracket being in unitary relation with the second bracket. In this manner, the bearing strength for the pedal assembly can be ensured.
In contrast, when a load of automobile collision above a predetermined level is applied to the car body in an automobile collision, an engine of the automobile is pushed backward by the load of automobile collision thereby moving the dash panel, a cylinder and the like backward. The first bracket fixed to the dash panel is also moved backward so that the first bracket is disconnected from the second bracket. In this case, since the second bracket is provided with the pedal lever stop, when the first bracket is disengaged from the second bracket and starts backward movement together with the pedal assembly, the pedal assembly abuts against the pedal lever stop thereby preventing further backward movement of the pedal assembly. Therefore, in an automobile collision, even if the first bracket moves backward with the progress of deformation of the dash panel, the pedal assembly itself does not produce the same backward movement as the first bracket. Accordingly, it can be prevented that the load of automobile collision acts on the driver""s knee with which the driver steps on the pedal.
Furthermore, since the inventive pedal assembly supporting structure is such a simple structure that the first bracket is fixed to the dash panel, the pedal assembly is mounted for rocking motion to the first bracket and the rear portion of the first bracket is connected to the second bracket fixed to the car body member in the cabin, the structure can be extremely simplified and reduced in cost, as compared with the conventional structure in which the rocking link supporting the pedal assembly abuts against the abutment of the car body member and thereby rocks.
Preferably, a rod associated with a cylinder located forward of the dash panel is connected to the pedal assembly, and the axial direction of the rod forms a predetermined angle with a direction parallel to a seating face of the second bracket with which the second bracket is mounted to the car body member.
Since the direction of input of a load to the pedal assembly from the rod associated with the cylinder is thus different from the direction parallel to the seating face of the second bracket with which it is mounted to the car body member, when the first bracket moves backward with the progress of deformation of the dash panel in an automobile collision, it can be avoided that the connection between the first and second brackets are kept unreleased to move the pedal assembly backward while deforming the second bracket. Accordingly, the above effects in a collision can be surely obtained.
The rear portion of the first bracket may be connected to the second bracket so as to disengage therefrom while rocking backward on a fulcrum on the pedal lever stop when the pedal assembly abuts against the pedal lever stop by an automobile collision.
With this structure, even if the rear end of the pedal assembly abuts against the pedal lever stop of the second bracket prior to disengagement of the coupling between the first and second brackets during the backward movement of the first bracket with the progress of deformation of the dash panel in an automobile collision, the rear portion of the first bracket is pushed backward while rocking backward together with the pedal assembly on the fulcrum on the pedal lever stop. Therefore, the first bracket surely disengages from the second bracket, and thereafter, in the same manner as described above, the pedal assembly itself is restrained by abutment on the pedal lever stop against further backward movement. Accordingly, it can be prevented that a load of automobile collision is applied to the knee of the driver who has stepped on the pedal in an automobile collision.
A sensor means for sensing an operated condition of the pedal assembly may be attached to the pedal lever stop of the second bracket. In this case, cost reduction can be achieved by using a mounting member for the sensor means also as the pedal lever stop.
The pedal assembly is preferably a brake pedal assembly. In this case, there can be provided a pedal assembly optimally exerting the effects of this invention.